


It was supposed to be a simple investigation

by writehard_whumpharder



Category: Original Work
Genre: Carson Hall - Freeform, Carson series, Daniel whump, Fever, Headaches & Migraines, High fever, Hiking, Hurt/Comfort, Illness, Investigation, Magic, Nosebleed, Overheating, Temporary Blindness, Vomiting, Whump, dizzy - Freeform, i gave up on editing this, in the wilderness, magic overload, oops just gave away the whole plot, sick, will come up with a better title later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:21:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27169915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writehard_whumpharder/pseuds/writehard_whumpharder
Summary: When Morris finds a connection between a magical hot spot in a park upstate and one of his current cases he asks Carson to consult. He, Carson, Riley, and Daniel all go on what is supposed to be a simple hike to investigate the area, not realizing that approaching a high concentration of magic could be dangerous for Carson.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

"Next gas station we're switching seats. It's too cramped back here." Riley complained.

"I don't see how moving from one side of the car to the other is going to make any difference but go ahead," Carson said while making little waves with the hand he had hanging out of the passenger window.

"I meant you and me will switch," she clarified.

Morris spoke up for the first time in about an hour to interject, "He knew what you meant."

"But-" 

"It doesn't matter anyway because we're not stopping." Morris declared. Riley let her head fall back onto the seat. She turned to glare at the man next to her despite the fact that he was blissfully unaware of the entire argument. Unless he was driving, Daniel could never stay awake on long car rides. And knowing this would be a rough one, he fell asleep almost immediately. To be fair, Daniel hadn't even been invited in the first place but when he reminded Morris that the alternative would be taking care of Carson on their own, he happily threw his bag into the trunk for him.

They were driving upstate to investigate a so-called "magical hot spot" in a state park that was originally home to the Iroquois Native Americans. Carson was well aware of this hot spot and many others but he had never taken any interest in them until Morris asked him to come to investigate. He suspected that magicians in the city were using this place as a source of power, which is a bit of a stretch, but Carson agreed it was best to be thorough. He wouldn't be surprised if some weaker magicians tried to tap into this natural well of magic for their own personal gain. Pathetic, but not surprising.

"We're almost there. We'll stop at the park's east entrance, conduct our investigation, then check into the inn for the night. It'll be too late to drive back." Morris summarized.

Carson turned around in his seat and shook Daniel's leg to wake him up. Luckily he was a light sleeper so it didn't take much before he opened his eyes and glanced up at Carson. He had that sleepy look in his eyes that Carson secretly loved.

"Wha's going on?" Daniel mumbled.

"We're here."

"Oh," he looked around, trying to gather himself. Morris pulled up to a spot marked by a log the approximate width of a normal parking space and they wasted no time climbing out and stretching. Morris headed right to the trunk where they had stashed away their backpacks for the hike. 

"I did some research and the only way to access the site is on foot but the blue trail is supposed to be a pretty easy hike." He said.

"Yeah if you're actually in shape," Carson said to himself.  
"And whose fault is that?" Daniel added. He had a feeling Carson would struggle the most with this hike. After all, he has been turning down every invitation to exercise together for the last five years now.

They settled into an awkward silence as they started up the trail. The four of them had been forced to work together before but that didn't make the grouping any less uncomfortable. Riley and Daniel just didn't get along and Carson would always find some way to add fuel to the fire. 

"You packed everything on the list right?" Carson asked him.

"It's a little late to be asking that, don't you think?" Danny laughed. "But yeah, I should have everything." Carson wasn't sure what kind of tools he might need to assess the site so he just decided to bring everything -- Chaulk, sand, salt, candles, paint, blood, a knife (in case they need more blood), etc.

All in all, it was a beautiful hike and the weather was near perfect. The dirt trail was wide and easy to follow. They walked through grassy areas as well as densely wooded areas. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. Carson wasn't too sure about it at first but he knew that without the promise of magic he never would have left his apartment, let alone go through the effort to take this hike. He looked at Daniel and frowned. There wasn't so much as a bead of sweat on his skin while Carson was already huffing and dragging his feet. 

"Have you taken your exam yet to become a detective yet?" Carson asked Riley, looking to make some conversation.

"Yep, I haven't gotten a score back yet but I think I aced it. Tests are easy. It's training under Morris that is hard."

"He just wants to make sure you know everything you need to know before cutting you loose." Carson responded.

"Yeah, it's taking a little longer than I planned since there are a lot of little steps between being an officer and specializing as a detective. In theory, it should only take a couple of years but that's only if you already have a lot of experience on the force." She explained.

"You don't really seem like a police officer," Daniel interjected.

"Well, I didn't actually spend that much time chasing down bad guys. It was more of a 50/50 split between fieldwork and doing paperwork at the precinct."

Carson looked at Morris who was walking a few feet ahead of them, wondering why he wasn't adding anything, until he noticed the earbuds he had in, probably listening to some lame audiobook. Carson kept his eyes down at the path when he wasn't taking in the beautiful scenery. 

\---

Forty minutes later the group had run out of small talk. Carson stopped for a moment and put his hands on his knees.  
"You good?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, just... catching my breath," he said while panting. He looked over everyone else in the group, wondering how they weren't completely exhausted. They were all a tad sweaty but otherwise still going strong. "I swear the gravity is different up here."

Morris looked at his map, "Hang in there. We're almost at the peak." 

They all started walking again but Carson only made it a few steps forward before giving up and sitting down on a flat rock. To be honest, he was getting a bit dizzy. He started feeling exhausted and ill about fifteen minutes ago actually but he didn't want to say anything and slow down the group. Obviously, the hike wasn't that difficult for everyone else so he must just be more out of shape than he thought. 

"Come on, just a little farther. Here, I'll carry your bag the rest of the way up." Daniel offered. Carson lazily slipped the straps off his shoulders so Daniel could take it. "You ready to continue?"

No way was he in any shape to keep walking.  
"Yeah, I'm sure I'll make it. It's not that much farther."

"That's the spirit," Morris chimed in. Daniel watched Carson a little more closely this time when he got up. He could tell by the way he was pressing his fingers into his thighs every time he stopped to catch his breath that he must not be feeling well. It's an odd little tell of Carson's that he had picked up on way back in college. With some help, Carson stood back up and continued walking beside Danny, who had slowed his pace considerably to match his.  
Staring down at the ground, Carson just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Every step seemed to get harder. It felt kind of like walking on sand. Like he was just slipping backwards down the hill a little bit with each step and he had to fight to move forward. 

When Daniel got a hold of the map Carson looked at it over his shoulder. They were telling the truth, it was just up ahead, but somehow that didn't make Carson feel any better.  
He stopped again, suddenly feeling nauseous. A pain was building in his head that turned his whole body sour. Something was wrong here.

"I want to stop," Carson said plainly. Daniel frowned in concern while the other two began pleading with him to change his mind.

"Aren't you curious too? It's really just up ahead. We don't have to stay long." Morris said.

"Yeah, please? What's the problem?" Riley asked.

Carson swallowed thickly, "I'm just... tired. I don't like it here. And it's so hot too." 

Daniel put a hand on his shoulder, "We'll take a break. If you still want to turn back in 15 minutes, we can. You're probably just dehydrated, or hungry. Some food and water will help." He suggested. Despite not knowing what was wrong Danny could tell something was really bothering him and he should take Carson's complaints seriously.   
"I guess..." Carson agreed. They sat down right on the trail since no one else would likely be passing them any time soon. After setting up Carson with some water and a bag of mixed nuts, Daniel squatted down next to Riley and Morris on the opposite side of the path.

"What's going on? Everything was fine a minute ago." Riley asked in a hushed voice. 

"I'm not sure but if he decides to turn back I don't want to hear a single objection from either of you, got it?"

"Got it," Morris responded. Riley looked at him with wide eyes. After walking for nearly an hour they couldn't go back when they were literally a few meters away from their destination.  
Carson threw a few almonds in his mouth, suppressing a gag when the taste hit his tongue. He didn't know why he felt so awful all of a sudden. After swallowing the couple bites he managed to take, Carson was certain he was going to be sick. 

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, I mean the woods... you know what I mean," he stammered.  
"Are you sure you're-"

He waved off Daniel's concern, "Yeah I'm fine, just give me a minute." It looked like he wanted to say more but he let him go. Carson walked into the woods just far enough to be out of hearing distance. The bush in front of him looked like as good a place as any to be sick into so he stopped there and took a minute to throw up what little food and water he had in his stomach before turning to head back. He could just barely see the path where from where he was... Until he suddenly couldn't see anything at all. 

For a second he wondered if he had just straight up gone blind but then he realized what was happening. His vision had shifted over to his magical senses on their own somehow. Around him were thousands of little specks of light like stars that he knew must be plants. He tried to shift them back, multiple times, but he couldn't seem to control it. It's happened before that his vision will flicker back and forth but it has never lasted this long. Though he didn't realize at the time, it all made sense. His body was simply overwhelmed by the concentrated well of magical energy. He had never been in contact with so much power before just loose in the wind, woven into the rocks, not attached to any particular thing. Carson stumbled forward towards where he thought the path was.

\--

"What is he doing out there?" Riley asked after roughly 15 minutes of waiting. 

Morris sighed, "Maybe he didn't just have to pee. Be a little patient."

"No, something feels wrong." Daniel said, checking his phone. "It's been 18 minutes. That's too long."

"How would you know?" Morris asked.

"I just do, okay?" He said defensively, not wanting to explain how he knew Carson's behaviors down to the smallest details. Including how long he takes doing things. It's a science really. "I think we should go look for him."

\--

Carson was starting to feel unbearably dizzy. He should have reached the path by now. And if he wasn't back at the path, he didn't know where the hell he was. Maybe if he walked far enough away from the hot spot he'd feel well enough to find his way back? It was wishful thinking at best but it was the only plan he had.

"Danny!" He called out, "Riley!"

There was no response. The realization that he was completely alone in the wilderness hit him, threatening to knock him down with anxiety. He fought to keep control.

"Don't panic. You'll find them. And if you don't, they'll find you." He said to himself as he continued walking. He felt like a kid who lost his mom in the supermarket. So stupid. How does a grown man end up lost in the woods, mostly blind and getting sicker by the minute?

\--

He wasn't sure the exact moment that he lost himself. Carson stumbled around for what felt like forever, exhausted and drenched in sweat. Every couple of minutes a chill would come out of nowhere, making his hair stand up. Then it would go back to being boiling hot outside. He struggled to remember what the weather had been like before all his senses went out of wack.

He leaned against a tree, panting. "Gotta... find... the path. Just, have to..." Carson sank to his knees, letting his head droop forward in defeat. Usually having magic was reassuring. Carson always had one more card up his sleeve in an emergency. But now, he feels like his magic is crushing him. This was supposed to be a simple investigation and he had been so close to doing it too. But nooooo. He just had to wander off into the woods by himself. Carson wasn't even sure what time it was now. To his vision, everything around him looked like a starry night sky but the warm sun on his skin told him it was still afternoon. A shiver through his body again, followed by a ripple of heat. Carson had long given up on trying to control the magic affecting his body temperature. It was simple, more energy means more heat. He tried so hard to move the excess energy away from him but there was just so much, he was drowning in it. Whatever magical energy he sent out of his body was quickly replaced by more. Carson never imagined he'd end up in a situation where he had too much magic.

He leaned forward and gagged emptily into the grass. It was time to get moving again. Before attempting to get up he called out one more time in a hoarse voice, "Daniel? Morris? Riley? Fucking anyone?" 

Carson tried his best to make sense of his surroundings. His magical senses weren't entirely useless. There was a general glow that came from the sheer amount of magic in this area as well as many lights of varying brightness and color. Small plants like grass aren't very easy to see but he could clearly distinguish where the trees were. Any time he got to a place without any plants he stopped and turned around not knowing if he was simply approaching some rocks or the edge of a cliff. 

To his feverish brain, the lights were beautiful. It made him just want to close his eyes and drift to sleep. Carson was about to do just that when he saw something in the distance. It was a human soul, he was sure of it. Maybe there were other hikers nearby.

"Hello?" He called out. The person moved slightly but didn't respond. A moment later he saw two more people join him. If they couldn't hear him he'd just have to go to them. With renewed strength, Carson pushed himself to his feet and started stumbling in that direction. "Hello? I need some help!" He yelled again. God were these people deaf or was his voice really that bad?

"Excuse me, do you-" Carson put out a hand experimentally, hoping to make contact with their shoulder to get their attention but his hand was met with empty air. A tingling spread up his arm as his hand passed through the soul in front of him. A soul.... without a body... he'd never seen that before aside from the brief moment after death.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up as another soul collided with his body sending another jolt through him. "Ow, fuck, stop it." He said uselessly. He saw now that there were more than a handful of untethered souls here and they seemed to gravitate towards him. Another soul seemed to bounce into his leg, leaving a harsh tingling sensation in its wake. At this point, Carson wasn't very scared, at least not of whatever these things were. It was all familiar to him, including the uncomfortable feeling he got when he touched a concentration of magic. He found himself in the same position he was in a minute ago, alone, mostly blind, and out of shouting distance of any living people. 

Carson took a few steps forward not realizing he was on the brink of something. Beyond these few souls were hundreds more. He had found the hot spot alright. How and why these souls were clustered in this area he didn't know. The only comfort he had was knowing that the power here wasn't accessible to most magic users. If it was they'd have far bigger problems on their hands.

A bead of sweat ran down into his eyes. This power was overwhelming. By the time he realized he should be running in the opposite direction it was too late. He fell to his knees as more magic made contact with his body which immediately attempted to absorb it. The process was out of his control. If this went on too long his internal organs might literally cook themselves. Carson collapsed onto his side, feeling cool stone beneath his cheek, and then he fell asleep.

\---

At first Daniel, Riley, and Morris had started searching the area for him on their own but after half an hour Morris insisted they call park security in to help. The last thing they wanted was to wait too long and have the sunset before they could find him.

"The park ranger will be here soon. I'm sure they have a procedure for this."

"Damn it, Morris, not everything can be solved with procedures," Daniel snapped. "Do you realize how bad this is?"

"Of course but it's important to keep a level head in times of-"

"Tell me to stay calm one more time." He yelled.

Riley stayed quiet during the exchange. It was usually her that fucked things up like this and she knew that Daniel hated her because of it. This time it really was out of their hands but that didn't stop him from pointing fingers at everyone around him. 

"Riley, go back to the main path and direct the park ranger when he gets here." Morris instructed. 

"On it."

Daniel huffed and shifted positions, he wanted to say more but he didn't even know what to say. He was worried. They lost Carson in the woods and he knew something must have happened to him otherwise he would have walked back on his own by now. Daniel just felt so... helpless.

It didn't take long for three uniformed men to arrive on an oversized ATV with Riley sitting in the back. They stopped and hopped out.

"So I understand you've lost a member of your party. Can you explain the situation to me?" He asked.

"Well almost an hour ago now he left to go to the bathroom and he never came back." Morris said.

"Alright, and can you describe this person to me?"

Daniel swiped open his phone and found a picture to show the ranger. "His name is Carson, 27 years old, about 5'9, here's his picture."

The guy leaned in to have a look, "Do you mind?" He reached to take the phone from Daniel to show the other two rangers with him. "You got all that boys?" They nodded. 

"Does he have any disabilities, medical conditions, or allergies we should know about?"   
Daniel shook his head, "he's really out of shape."

The ranger laughed heartily, "Well let's hope he hasn't gotten too far then." He pulled his radio off his belt and turned away from them, "We have a code twelve here, starting the search now."

"Alright, we're going to spread out and start an organized search for the missing person. I would suggest staying on the trail or heading back down to the park services office to wait."

"But we want to help," Daniel insisted.

"I know but it will easier to look for him if we know everyone else is safe." He advised. Daniel frowned. "Of course the state park is public property and I can't stop you from hiking off-trail if you want to..."

"Yes, let’s go with that."   
"I'm detective Henry Morris and this officer Miller, we'd like to participate in the search as well. He's somewhat of a special case... what I mean is, it might take some unconventional methods to find him." He tried to elaborate without directly mentioning magic but since it was quite possible his disappearance was magic related he thought it best to stay involved. Daniel was, well, losing his shit right about now but they might need him. No one knew as much about Carson or magic in general as he did.

"Alright, you three can come with me in the ATV while my other two rangers start from this location. We'll head out a bit farther just in case."

Daniel hopped in the back with Riley. Maybe this whole "following procedure" and "calling in qualified professionals" thing wasn't such a bad idea. Even if it did sound useless coming out of Morris's mouth.

"There's plenty of daylight left so try not to worry too much. If we don't find him in two hours, I'll call in more people."

\--

Carson writhed where he laid. He had no idea what was happening to him. It was dark and yet so bright at the same time. Everything hurt, it felt like he was swept up in a river, going down the rapids on his bare skin, hitting every single rock on the way down. His mind scattered into a million pieces that were all screaming PAIN. He was pretty sure he was losing consciousness too because every so often everything would fade only to come back in full force a moment later.

Logic was long gone as Carson's fevered brain struggled to do the simplest of things like interpreting the sensory information it was getting. With all the magic around him he wasn't sure where his body ended and the world began. The rock beneath him switched between cold stone and warm water dizzyingly. He legitimately thought he might be dying.

\--

Daniel gasped, grabbing his head with both hands. It happened so suddenly Riley jumped a little next to him. He hunched over, groaning in pain.

"Are you okay?" She asked experimentally.

Daniel didn't answer and instead ran his fingers through his hair so hard that some of it came out wrapped around his fingers.

"Stop the vehicle." She told the ranger.

"What's going on back there?" He asked, coming to a slow and gentle stop before turning around in his seat.

Daniel still had his head down so they couldn't see his face. Everyone turned to him in concern. His shoulders shook and at first, they assumed he was crying, until he slowly lifted his head. He wasn't crying, he was laughing.   
Daniel smiled like a madman as blood streamed from both his nostrils. Some of it even got in his mouth, staining his teeth red. His face had gone deathly pale but none of that stopped the laughter from bubbling out of him. It was scary to witness. They had never seen Daniel like this before, he was borderline hysterical.

The park ranger was at a loss for words, "I think your friend needs medical attention..."

Morris wholeheartedly agreed but he still humored him and asked, "what's so funny?"

"That's it," he sighed, "the SOS, the distress signal."

"What are you talking about?" They asked in unison.

"I can find him now. He'll lead us to him." Daniel said. He was so relieved that the immense pain crushing his skull from the inside seemed irrelevant. 

"I'm still not sure what you mean..." Riley added.

"He's sending out a signal to me. If I just follow the pain, it should lead me right to him," he jumped out of the ATV and started walking in a large circle until he doubled over again. "Yep, definitely this way."

The park ranger pulled out his compass, "That's southeast."

"I know this doesn't make much sense to you, but we should trust him. He knows what he's doing." Morris insisted. Just as he was about to ask him to hop back on so they could start heading in that direction Daniel took off on foot. There was no stopping him now that he had a lead. What Daniel didn't mention was that Carson doesn't send out this kind of signal voluntarily. It only happens when he's really scared and in danger. Or at least when he thinks he's in danger. That part worried him but he used that feeling to move forward despite how much it hurt him to do so. 

The group attempted to follow behind with the ATV because while they might not need it now to find Carson, they'd definitely need it to bring him back.

Daniel started off strong but as more blood poured from his nose he started to feel weak and had to grab onto passing trees to stay upright. The migraine was like a lightning storm in his head and he suspected it was pure adrenaline and desperation that kept him going. A couple of times he had to stop and reorient before taking off again. By the time they managed to convince him to just get back on the ATV he was too out of it to notice. 

"Are we still on the right track?" Morris asked him.

Daniel stared down at his feet with a vacant look on his face, "huh?"

"Are we still on track towards Carson?" He repeated. Daniel let his eyes sweep the floor of the ATV. When did he get back in? 

"Daniel!"

"Hmm? Right. Yeah, we're close, I can't really tell..."

"We're actually pretty close to being directly below the peak that your group was heading to." The ranger added.

"Really? He must have gone towards the hot spot. It's the only thing that makes sense." Morris said.

"But he... did'n want to go..." Danny slurred.

"Let's try to decipher Carson's actions later."

The ranger drove straight to the clearing that was as close to the peak as you can get without actually being on it. "I have eyes on the missing hiker." He said into his radio. Everyone else bolted up in their seats to see whatever the ranger had seen with his apparently hawk-like vision.

"Over there on the rocks," he pointed casually.

Riley had to grab Daniel's arm and force him back into his seat before he could thoughtlessly try to jump out of the ATV while they were still moving.

"My bag," he told her, "my bag..." They rolled to a stop and Daniel practically fell out of the vehicle onto the grass. Riley followed with Danny's bag as he stumbled over to the rocks.

Now that they were closer she could see that he was in rough shape. Worse than she was expecting if that's even possible. He appeared to be unconscious but twitching uncomfortably. His skin was flushed and drenched in sweat. She could have beat Daniel to him easily at the pace he was going but she knew he would want to get to him first.

"C-Carson?" He muttered and fell to his knees next to him. He touched his arm and actually yanked his hand back in shock. "He's..."

Riley furrowed her brows and went to touch his forehead with the back of her hand, recoiling just as Daniel had. "Holy shit, is he even alive?" Daniel's eyes widened in horror. "Calm down I can see he's breathing." It was true, Carson's chest was heaving to draw in air as he moved his arms and legs uselessly unable to even lift them off the ground. 

"Back up," the park ranger barked as he ran up with a first aid kit. Riley quickly shuffled over to give him access. He opened the box and went to touch Carson's face, "what the..."

"M-my bag," Daniel repeated.

"Oh right," Riley passed it to him and rather than rifling around inside it he dumped all the contents onto the ground next to him. In hindsight maybe he should have just reached into the bag because what tumbled out onto the rocks would raise a lot of questions that none of them wanted to answer. In addition to regular camping gear, there were candles, books, trinkets, minerals, chalk, paint, unidentified vials of things, and a few weapons.

"Who are you people?"   
Morris stepped in, "I'll take it from here, you can go wait by the ATV." He flashed his badge as if to say get out of the way and don't ask questions. As soon as he was gone he asked, "What are we dealing with, Miller?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

Daniel's face lit up as he picked up what looked like a friendship bracelet someone would make at summer camp when they were eight. It was clearly Carson's handiwork. "Um, this should help. But we might need... uh," he was rambling. Daniel could barely get a single thought through his head through all the pain. The bracelet would stop all transferring of magic but he couldn't put it on him when his system was still so overloaded with it. 

He slapped Carson across the face hard until his eyes cracked open, "You have to get rid of all the magic clinging to you, flush it out!" He said, getting right to the point.

"...what?... how?" He croaked.

"Just fucking use it."

It seemed so painfully obvious now. Why the hell hadn't he thought to do something like that before? He sank his hands into the ground, forcing all the energy into the life there. The roots of the surrounding plants would ground some of the magic. It would have been somewhat useless to do before because it would just be replaced with more magic but now with a way to stop it it might just work. Carson only had one thought on his mind, "use it."

They watched as the grass around him grew. A nearby maple tree spontaneously sprouted another branch and the ivy wrapped around it grew into what looked like a second tree, intertwined with the first one. Carson didn't use his magic on plants often so it was a bit jarring to see, especially for Riley who never realized that was an option.

Daniel was quick to slip it onto his wrist and as he did, Carson went completely slack. The pain in Daniel's head receded once Carson knew he was safe. The first thing he did was use his shirt to wipe away the insane amount of blood on his face. Touching Carson's skin now he was a lot cooler but still feverish so Daniel took his water bottle and poured it over him. 

"Okay, now let's get the fuck out of here." He said.

There was a brief pause as everyone tried to process what they had gone through in the last couple of hours. One thing was certain though, if Daniel hadn't come Carson could have died. Riley made a mental note to have him teach her some things later so she could be more useful.

Morris lifted Carson up to carry him the short distance to the ATV. His lower back complained the whole way but he didn't say anything knowing Daniel was too exhausted to do it at the moment. They all piled into the ATV with Daniel, Riley, and Carson in the back. Carson was propped up between the two as he continued to sleep.

"So I suggest we go straight to the inn and rest unless anyone wants to go to the hospital first," Morris said.

“I don’t think the hospital could do much for him anyway,” Daniel said. “Fevers caused by m-” He just barely managed to stop himself from saying the m-word. “I don’t think he’s in danger now.”

(Part 2 in progress)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of the first chapter. ** Sorry the spacing is messed up for this chapter I'm not sure how to fix it**

Carson woke up in the car, "Are we almost there?" He mumbled.

"What?"

"To the park." He clarified.

"Carson we already went hiking, don't you remember?" Riley asked in concern.

Carson scoffed, "I think I'd remember if I went hiking."

"I was really hoping we could debrief at the inn so the trip wouldn't be a total waste," Morris sounded disappointed. If Carson couldn't even remember what happened the whole thing would be pointless. "Do you remember anything at all about the magic there?"

Carson grimaced and thought about it for a second, "There was just so much of it..."

"So you do remember?" Morris asked hopefully.

"Ugh, my brain hurts. I don't know." Carson grumbled.

"So how do you feel now?" Daniel asked.

Carson let his head fall back onto the seat and closed his eyes, "I'm okay, it kind of just feels like a bad dream."

"Why do you think it affected you so strongly?" Riley asked.

Though Carson's memory was fuzzy the sharpest details still stood out to him, like when he reached the source of the power. It had been excruciating and was probably burned into his mind forever. "There was a lot of magic there, including the kind other magicians use. But I think the majority of it was human souls. Life energy is what I work with but it should be inaccessible to most other people." He explained.

Morris spoke up from behind the wheel, "What about for someone like you? Another soul magician."

"Well I suppose it would be bad if they got their hands on that kind of power but if they really had bad intentions they wouldn't need to leave the city to get access to that many human souls..."

"You mean...?"

"Yes. But judging by how I feel it would be hard for them to even take in that much power."

"I think that's enough for now," Daniel said, wanting Carson to have the chance to get some rest. It was perfect timing too because Carson was starting to get a bit uncomfortable about all the attention being aimed at him. 

Since there were no hotels in the area Morris found this small, family-owned Inn quite close to the park. It was cheap, comfortable, and had free breakfast. After everything they had been through they were all thankful to have a place to stay tonight. By the time they got there, the sun had already fallen below the horizon, leaving the sky that dark blue color that came right before nightfall. Daniel wordlessly grabbed both his and Carson's bags to bring inside while Morris grabbed the others. The house was well lit and inviting as they climbed the steps of the roofed porch. Carson sat down on the first chair he saw when they got inside. 

"Hi, I called earlier today about booking a few rooms," Morris told the woman at the front desk.

"The detective right? It looks like we have two rooms available, a queen and two singles."

"That's it? Don't you have five rooms here?" He asked.

"Yes but a few hikers came and booked them. Do you still want the two rooms?" She asked politely.

"Yes, I still want them," he said. Morris hadn't made a reservation because at the time that they left that morning he didn't know for sure whether they'd drive back or stay the night.

After giving the woman his credit card information she grabbed two numbered keys with little tassels on the end. "Ok room 3 is the queen and room 4-"

Daniel came and plucked the key from Morris's hand, "Goodnight then." He said without wasting any time and motioned for Carson to follow him. 

"It's right up those stairs," the woman told him quickly seeing as he was already halfway out of the room. Carson followed him up slowly, only responsible for hauling his own body up the stairs while Danny took care of literally everything else. He wouldn't even let him carry his own jacket. 

Given how small the place was it didn't take long to find their room. They both knew that they'd have to share the bed but it never crossed either of their minds to care. If they can both sleep on the couch together then they can certainly sleep on an actual bed, and it's not like it was the first time. Carson stumbled over to it and basically faceplanted into the covers. The room had a nice cozy glow to it that threatened to lull him to sleep. Daniel came by once their things were settled and popped off both of his shoes for him muttering something about no shoes on the bed, or in the house, or some rule that Carson wasn't familiar with.

"Do you want to shower or anything before bed? I'll go see if I can scrounge up some food in a minute," Danny offered.

"Jus' wanna sleep," Carson said into the pillow.

"It's barely 8pm," Daniel laughed. 

"Don't care," he mumbled.

When Daniel left in search for food the room went quiet except for the sound of the oscillating fan in the corner. Needless to say, he'd be dead asleep long before Daniel came back.  In the hallway, he passed by Riley and Morris's room and decided to knock on the door.  Morris opened it after the first knock and Daniel peered in to see that the room had already been transformed into a disorganized mess of police files and papers. Riley sat on one of the single beds hunched over her laptop, typing at light speed by the looks of it. Any concerns anyone might have had about sharing a room dissipated after it had been effectively turned into a temporary workspace.

"How's Carson?" Morris asked.

"Asleep. I'm gonna go see if I can get some food," he told him.

"I already asked the lady at the front desk. They don't have a proper dinner available but you can choose between some fruit, cereal, bagels, and snacks."

"Bagels huh?"

Riley laughed quietly to herself knowing that a certain someone was practically addicted to the things. Especially if cream cheese was involved.

"If he wakes up and wants to work on the case let me know," Morris added.

"Unlikely but okay," Daniel left back down the stairs to find the kitchen.

The woman who helped them check in was happy to point him to the breakfast bar (which wasn't set up at that time of night) and the fridge. Daniel toasted two bagels and grabbed a couple of apples to serve as a makeshift dinner. He also asked the woman if they had a first aid kit he could borrow with a thermometer and luckily they did. When Daniel got back to the room he found Carson in the exact same position as when he left him -- face down on the bed with his feet hanging over the edge.

"Alright I got some food, you need to eat some." He told him.

Carson groaned, "Tired, wanna sleep."

"This is non-negotiable," Danny said, using his mom voice. 

Carson turned over and scooted up the bed until he was almost sitting up, "Fine. Bring it here." Setting the plate on the nightstand next to him, Daniel started on his own bagel, not realizing how famished he was until he took a bite. It had been a long day. Carson ate about half of his and called it quits which Daniel would just have to accept as enough.

"I got a thermometer too. I know your fevers usually spike at night so I figured it would be good to be able to check on it."  He cleaned the tip with an alcohol swab and gestured for Carson to open his mouth. When it beeped Carson made sure to look at the number first before he could snatch it away -- 101.8° F.

"101.8°, that's basically normal," Carson shrugged.

Daniel scoffed, "Not when your normal body temperature is 97° it's not."

"Whatever, I've had worse," 

"Any chance you want to work on the case a bit before going to bed, while it's still fresh in your mind?" 

"If I can do it without moving from this spot I will." Since Daniel didn't have Riley's number Carson went ahead and grabbed his phone off the nightstand and sent literally a random string of letters to her to tell her to come to their room. He was too lazy to type up a coherent sentence so she'd just have to figure it out herself.

Sure enough, a couple minutes later there was a knock on his door and Riley came in armed with her laptop, a notebook, some papers, and more pens than she could possibly ever need. She took a seat at the desk in the corner of the room and swiveled the chair around to face Carson.

"So you don't remember a whole lot from earlier today, huh?" She started.

Carson shook his head, "It's pretty fuzzy, I remember feeling like shit then going blind and-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Daniel interrupted. "You went blind? When?"

"I think the amount of magic in the area just overwhelmed my senses so I could only see the magic, I couldn't switch back to my regular vision." He said. They were both familiar with his two types of vision. "I tried to get away from it but I ended up going straight to it..." He scratched his head, feeling pretty stupid about the whole thing.

"Okay, so we confirmed that there is a dense, magical hot spot there and you saw it all yourself." She clarified, writing a few things down.

"I felt it too," he said.

"How so?"

"There were just so many human souls there, hundreds of them maybe, and they all gravitated towards me. It tingles to touch small concentrations of magic so you can imagine that with that much power it would hurt pretty bad." Said Carson.

"What we really want to know is how concerned we should be about the hot spot. You mentioned that most of the power would be inaccessible to the magic u- magicians we're tracking." 

"I can't be sure how much elemental magic there was underneath all the life energy... " Carson wished he could be more helpful but it was impossible to tell and he sure as hell isn't going back.

"Okay, that's all you can really do on your end. Morris and I are working on tracking the movements of this group. We know that a couple of them have been in this area but we haven't confirmed yet if they went to the park." Riley said while rifling through some papers. "I wrote up your witness statement you can add to it or make corrections then sign it at the bottom. The precinct will refer to it as evidence that the magical hot spot is real and potentially dangerous."

"Yeah, yeah, just give me the paper." Carson groaned, just wanting to just get all the formalities out of the way. He signed it and passed it back to her. Riley put it in a folder then set all her things aside on the desk. She sighed and slouched down in the chair, visibly switching out of detective mode.

"Now it's your turn to tell me what happened. How did you end up finding me?" He asked.

Daniel spoke up first, "Morris called park services and had them search for you after we couldn't find you ourselves."

"Yeah but that's not really how we-"

Daniel cleared his throat purposefully to tell her to stop.

"What?" Carson furrowed his brows, not happy that they were keeping something from him. "Tell me."

"It's nothing. The park ranger found you and drove us all back to the park entrance." Daniel said.

Riley looked at the defensive glares on both their faces and decided Carson's was scarier. "We found you because Daniel followed the signal you sent him."

"What signal..." Carson asked. Daniel already knew that Carson was largely unaware of the distress signal he sends out in life or death situations. He tried not to tell him about it actually because Carson would feel bad about hurting him and might stop doing it which was the last thing he wanted.

"Well when the situation got serious you made a sort of psychic connection and we just had to keep moving in your direction," Daniel said.

"Must have hurt like hell," Riley commented thoughtlessly.

"Shut up," Daniel snapped.

Carson frowned, "I guess if it hurts me I'd be stupid not to realize it hurts you too." He did know a bit about the distress signal but it's just something that kind of happens on its own. In bad situations, his magic does sometimes react automatically. He had never put much thought into it before, but then again, he doesn't usually sit down and debrief after something like this happens.

"It's not a big deal," Daniel insisted.

Carson turned to Riley instead, "Explain."

"Well it's like he said but I suppose there are side effects to it. What matters is that it's over now and we'll head back home first thing in the morning."

Carson took a good long look at Daniel, trying to piece together whatever he was still hiding from him. He looked extra tired right now.. and there was a dark spot of some kind on the neck of his shirt, just barely visible. He had his jacket zipped all the way up since the car ride back, even until now. "That jacket must be warm to wear inside," he said before grabbing the zipper and pulling it down. To his surprise, Danny did little to stop him. He gasped at the amount of blood dried onto his shirt. What started out a light green was now stained a dark reddish, brown color. Judging by the drip pattern it must have come from a nosebleed. And a bad one at that. Carson looked down at his lap shamefully.

"Well it's getting late, I better head back," Riley said. It was a blatant lie seeing as it was only a quarter to nine but no one questioned it. Carson kept his eyes down until she left the room.

"I'm gonna take a shower," Daniel declared then marched off to the small bathroom with his backpack.

Carson still had that icky feeling that came fevers. There was a dull ache all throughout his body along with that distinct weak feeling. Like he just recovered from the flu. All of that was nothing though compared to the guilt he felt. Here Daniel was, running around the room doing everything for him to keep him comfortable when he had put him through just as much hell as he went through. It made him wonder how often he hurts him unknowingly. It wasn't fair.

He spent the next ten minutes tidying up the room, throwing away their trash, getting their things together, and putting medications out on the nightstand with a fresh cup of water. He also set up Daniel's phone charger and set an alarm for the morning. When there was nothing left to do he got under the covers and pretended to be asleep.

A cloud of steam wafted out the bathroom door as Daniel stepped out. He was already changed into his pajamas and the fabric clung to his damp skin uncomfortably. He looked out into the room and noticed immediately that every task he had lined up in his head was already done and Carson was seemingly already asleep. He took his allergy meds and got in the bed next to him, making sure to stay far on his side. The tension in the air made Daniel think sleep would be impossible but exhaustion won and he was out within minutes. Long days will do that to you.

\---

Daniel opened his eyes. The room was dark and quiet but something had woken him up, what was it?

There was a shuffling beside him and for a moment he completely forgot that Carson was there. He rolled onto his back to look at him. There was a pinched expression on his face that he could see even in the dark and he kept moving around like he was uncomfortable. The thought passed through his head that he might be having a nightmare, but Carson had gotten a lot better in recent months. Whatever unknown danger that lurked in his dreams, while no less scary, is not so unknown now.

Daniel watched him for a minute before remembering that he had planned to check his temperature at least once in the night. One delicate touch to his forehead was enough to know that it had gotten worse just as he expected. Flicking the lamp back on, he gently shook Carson's shoulder to wake him up. "Wake up for a second so I can take your temperature," he whispered.

Carson groaned reluctantly but opened his mouth for the thermometer anyway. Daniel was just about to put it under his tongue when Carson closed his mouth and opened his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

When Carson finally took in his surroundings he realized what was going on. Danny was trying to take care of him as always but the guilt from earlier still lingered in his mind. In his feverish, half-asleep state that feeling translated into something along the lines of  _ don't let him help you. _

Danny rolled his eyes thinking he was going to do the whole wiggling away from the thermometer routine but Carson surprised him by taking the thermometer from him.

"You can go back to sleep," he said, popping it in.

"I left the ibuprofen in my bag in the bathroom, I'll go get it."

Carson grabbed his arm to stop him and shook his head then leapt up so he could grab it from the bathroom before he got the chance.

Daniel sighed, not sure what the hell he was doing. He got up to follow him. "Seriously just get back in bed." He whined. "What happened today was no joke and I know you haven't fully recovered from it yet."

Carson ignored him and stumbled into the sink. His arms were weak and shaky as he opened Daniel's bag and found the small bottle of ibuprofen. The thermometer beeped suddenly, surprising him enough to drop the bottle. Daniel came in behind him and took the thermometer first before bending down to grab the medicine.

"I fucking knew it. It's over 104°F." He cursed. If it were a normal fever he'd consider taking him to the hospital but fevers caused by magic are a little different and generally not as dangerous.

"That's not that bad. I can take care of it myself," he insisted.

"I'd rather you didn't. Don't be difficult." Daniel replied. But what Carson heard was  _ you're a burden. _

"Oh," he said, sounding a bit sad. Carson pushed past him and went back to the bed. Daniel grabbed a couple things and returned with a wet cloth, the medicine, and a cup of water. Carson obediently took the medicine and laid down when Daniel told him to so he could put the cloth on his forehead.

Meanwhile, Danny was thoroughly confused at Carson's behavior which was all over the place. "I hope it goes down by the time we have to leave which is in," he checked his phone, "a few hours. Better get as much sleep as we can then."

\---

When the alarm went off at 6:30am Daniel found that Carson had rolled all the way over to his side of the bed and was nestled up against him, driven by the unconscious desire to comfort himself with the smell of Daniel's laundry detergent. In an effort to make him feel less embarrassed he got out of bed first, carefully so he didn't wake him up. After brushing his teeth and changing his clothes he shook Carson awake and let him think that he had sprawled out on the opposite side of the bed after Daniel had gotten up.

"I think Morris said he wanted to leave by 7 so we could get back to the city earlier. It's 6:37am now. If you get ready to go I can grab some coffee and snacks from downstairs." Daniel said.

"Ugh, Morris is crazy. It's literally the crack of dawn." Carson whined. He could see out the window that there was plenty of sky still untouched by the morning sun. Daniel grabbed his bag and headed downstairs first giving him a few minutes to himself.

Carson still felt a bit weird about last night, or rather the whole day yesterday, but he didn't want to take that bitter taste in his mouth with him all the way back to the city, so he let it go. 

Downstairs Riley and Morris were both sipping mugs of black coffee while Daniel made himself some toast and grabbed a yogurt cup from the fridge. Most of their things were already in the car and ready to go.

"Good morning," Morris said as Carson entered the kitchen. 

"Morning," he responded. "It's so early, I don't know how you do it." Both detectives looked wide awake and not at all sick to their stomachs, the complete opposite of Carson in the morning. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of various foods being cooked and grabbed a single piece of bread to nibble on.

"Well the paperwork is done, everyone is alive, all in all, a pretty successful trip." Morris commented.

Riley scoffed, "I'd hate to know what your definition of a failed trip is then."

"I think I'm with Riley on this one," Carson said.

"I don't know, my definition of a successful trip is one where I don't have to spend any of my own money so Morris is right," Daniel shrugged. He had a point. As awful as it had been they were going home with more than they started with.

Morris checked the time on his phone. "If everyone is ready to hit the road-"

"Shotgun!" Carson said at the same as Riley, but she only got the "Sh" part out.

"I hate you," she said jokingly.


End file.
